


The Frat

by midnightkimmo



Category: One Direction
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, F/M, Harry Styles - Freeform, Liam Payne - Freeform, Louis Tomlinson - Freeform, Niall Horan - Freeform, Party, frat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-09
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-08-20 11:40:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8247443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightkimmo/pseuds/midnightkimmo
Summary: Mariah Olvera, 22, 3rd year CSUN Student meets someone who changes her life just as much as she changes his.
 
Louis Tomlinson, 24, transfer student from Manchester University, comes down to California for a fresh start from a dark past. 
Mariah and Louis cross paths one night at a frat party and somehow find a connection towards each other.
What will happen when Louis' demons follow him to his new life?  What will Mariah think?Will she leave or stay?





	1. 1.

The Frat.  
**Chapter 1.**

  
  I groan as I violently press the off button on my phone's alarm clock blaring "Xylophone". If it were a different sound, I would sleep right through it. Call it a lesson learned.

  
I turn face up and stare at the ceiling for what feels like 5 minutes; contemplating whether or not I need this class to pass and graduate. It so happens that I, in fact, DO need it.

  
I sit up on my bed an do my morning stretches - while also making fabulous pterodactyl screeches - the fabulously drag myself into the bathroom for a shower. I have class at 9am and as of now, it's 8.

  
_You see, I'm a student at California State University, Northridge (Class of 2017!!!!) I have yet to graduate, just one more year, thank fuck. But for now, I have early morning classes, then my part-time job at an elementary school._  
_I have my three best friends/ roommates, Maria, Claudia, and Carlos. I met them both at the school I work at. Both happen to work for the same after school program, LA's Best. Maria graduated last year as a Children's Psychologist at the elementary school, Claudia graduated along with Maria as a Children's Psych as well and Carlos is finishing up his last year in uni along with me. Both he and I are going for music majors._

  
"MARIAH! We're gonna be late for class if you don't hurry your fatass up!" oh don't you just love the loving compliment from Carlos?

  
"I'm coming, damnit!" I yell back as i grab my bag for class.

  
We all share a 4 bedroom apartment near the campus so it's convenient enough for Carlos and I to just walk to class.

  
"If I hadn't called you out, you'd still be in there fixing yourself up for another hour!" he says to me as i head down the stairs.

  
"Will you shut up? Maria and Claudia are still asleep and for the record, it's only 8:30, you idiot. We're SO fucking early. It's a good time for some Starbucks." I tell him with a cheeky grin.

  
He rolls his eyes at me and keeps walking to the building.

  
"So there's this party tonight at Kappa Sigma, Josh let me know about it though a group chat, you down to go?" he asks while his tall ass looks at me. (he's 6ft 4in)

  
"Waitwaitwaitwait." I stop him. "Kappa Sigma? That frat is the most popular frat on campus, how the hell did Josh get access to them?" I look at my best friend in disbelief.

"Josh has his ways, he went down on one of the gu-"

  
"-OKAY I'VE HEARD ENOUGH. I don't need to know Josh's personal life!' I yell out while Carlos laughs.

  
"So are you down to go? I already asked Maria and Claudia, they said they're down. You can't back down on this one." he says while raising his eyebrows at me.

  
He's making a point here. I get invited to all these frat parties or house parties but I never end up going because I would rather study. I think i deserve a break tonight.

  
"Okay fine, I'll go. What time?" I ask as we walk into our class.

 

"It starts at 9pm but no one really shows up until 10 so I'm thinking we head over there at 10." he says.

  
"Sounds good then." I say as I take the seat next to him and wait till our class starts.

  
\---  
Class was a drag, as always. Carlos and I make our way back to our apartment before we head to work in a few hours.  
As we're walking in, we see Maria in the living room.

  
"Hey guys, how was class?" she politely asked.

  
_I met Maria at work, she immediately came to talk to me since no one else did and took me right under her wing. She's a very sweet girl with a little savage side to her. She comes out of a very Christian home and was a devoted little church girl. After a while, she just got tired of saying yes to them; doing everything, every event, staying super late after church is over and cleaning up after everyone, etc. We told her about our 'moving in together' ideas, so she decided to pack her shit, spread her wings, and leave her mom's house. She was happy to be away, especially away from her mother's no good husband. It's been a year since we all moved in together and not one of us regret it._

  
"Eh, the usual. Lecture after lecture, y'know?" Carlos says as he walks into the kitchen. The thing about Carlos is, he can eat SO much, but never gain weight from it. Lucky him.

  
"Yeah, the usual boring shit I almost fell asleep to." I say rolling my eyes as I lay on the comfortable couch. "Claudia working?"

  
"Yeah, she had to go in early today for a couple students that needed to talk to her. Something about a family incident." Maria says. "So are we still up for the frat party tonight?" she asks indirectly.

  
"Mariah said yes already so yes we are, we leave at 10 tonight." Carlos says from the kitchen.

  
"You're actually going, M?" Maria asks in surprise. "You decided against studying tonight?"

  
"Yeah, surprisingly. I think I deserve a break tonight." I smile as I tell her.

  
"I'll say, you're always fucking studying while we're out having fun." Carlos says as he walks out of the kitchen with a big sandwich. See what I mean when I say that he can eat and never gain it?

  
I roll my eyes at him.

  
"Well shit, I wanna pass this year so I stayed and studied my ass off to get the results I have now!"

  
"You can still study and go out and have fun, it's not rocket science." Maria retorts.

  
I'm going to lose my eyes if I keep rolling them so much at my two friends. Instead of responding to them with another sassy remark, I head up to my room to kill time before work.

  
\--  
'Alright y'all, see you Monday!" I yell out as I leave work.

  
"Did you turn in all your paperwork?" I hear my supervisor say.

  
"Yes, Alex, it's all turned in. Go check." I chuckle and head out with Carlos.

"I think coach Alex has a thing for coach Mariah." Carlos teases and I roll my eyes for the thousand time today.  
"Oh shut up, will you He doesn't see me like that. Plus, he's our supervisor so that clearly can't happen between us." I tell him as we get into my car.

  
"But what if he wasn't our supervisor and he DID have a little crush on you? Would you get at it?" Carlos smirks.  
"Very good question you have there, Martinez." I chuckle and drive off towards our apartment. "He's cute, I'll give you that. But I don't think I see myself with him." I shrug.

  
"Well all I'm saying is that he has a thing for you. End of story." he tells me as he leans back onto the seat.

  
The ride was filled with a lot of Carlos' stories of the other frat parties he went to and how a lot of girls tried turning him straight. I laughed so hard that I almost crashed twice. Stupid Carlos. He also scolded me on not going to the parties and if I miss this one, I have to ask Alex out because he claims that he has a crush on me. Bullshit.

  
We get home at 8. Just a couple hours until we head out to the party. Which gives me the opportunity to have a shower and get ready in peace without getting bitched at on being last.

  
In this apartment, there are 4 rooms, 2 bathrooms. There are 4 of us so Maria took a shower at the same time I did. Which just leaves Carlos and Claudia to take theirs.

  
By the time we all finish getting ready, it's 10pm sharp.  
Claudia walks into the kitchen with a bottle of tequila in one hand and 4 shot glasses stacked up in the other. I give her a confused look.

  
"We have to pre-game before we get to the party, it's what we usually do while you're up in your room studying." Claudia says as she sets the bottle and shot glasses on the counter.

  
Claudia pours tequila into all four glasses and we hold them up.

  
"Cheers bitches!!!" Maria yells as we all clink glasses and take down what we have.

  
I feel the bitter taste of tequila run down my throat, leaving a warm sensation run through my body, suddenly making me feel relaxed. I slam the glass back onto the counter and wipe the small drop that man aged to escape from the corner of my mouth. I'm more of a liquor kind of girl so I don't take beer so easily and everyone in this house knows that.

  
"Alright ladies, let's get going, Josh told me it's a full ass house." Carlos says as he leads us out.

  
"I hope Jacob's there, he's a fucking GOD." Claudia says fanning herself at the thought of him.

  
"I think someone needs a change of panties." Maria smirks.

  
"Who said I'm wearing any?" Claudia winks and we all burst into laughter.

  
**Oh will this be an interesting night.**


	2. 2.

Chapter 2  
As we made our way to the party, we ran into some of our other friends so we decided to go along with them. The walk from our apartment to the Kappa Sigma house took about 10 minutes. Unfortunately for Claudia and Maria, they had to take their heels off halfway through the walk. I'm the smart one that thought about wearing my Adidas shoes tonight.

  
"I TOLD you idiots to wear comfortable shoes! It's a frat party, not a nightclub" Carlos exclaims, rolling his eyes in the process.

  
"I told you guys too but nobody ever listens to us." I scold them as they walk barefoot with heels in hands.

  
"Well if you must know, beauty is pain, am I right Maria?" Claudia smirks.

  
"Never again am I wearing heels that I can't handle. Fuck." Maria whines.

  
Carlos and I laugh at the two girls in foot pain, mentally patting myself in the back for deciding against heels.

  
It's not that I don't wear heels. I do but not to a damn frat party.

  
While Claudia and Maria are wearing short tight dresses, looking as uncomfortable as they might feel, I'm wearing a pair of black leggings, a white v-neck t-shirt with my sleeves rolled up, a pair of black Adidas(CAMPUS), a black Adidas snapback with the white lotus logo and a denim jacket in hand in case I get cold later. My long, recently dyed hair is down and straightened.

  
I like being comfortable, not out there. Dresses aren't really my thing, to be honest. I'll go for a pair of skinny jeans any day, and so that was tonight for this frat party.

  
As we keep walking, we start hearing the bass of the music coming from the frat house. Outside, there are people smoking, drinking, and chilling on the outdoor furniture. As soon as we get inside, it's a whole different atmosphere; loud music, mainly hip hop from what I'm hearing, we walk into the living room and there's no furniture but a couch pushed back against the wall, sweaty bodies dancing and grinding against each other. To our left was the kitchen with an island filled with bottles of liquor, mixed drinks, and beer.

  
"I'm gonna get us some shots!" I hear Carlos say over the blaring music.

  
"Get us some shots, Martinez! None of that beer shit." Claudia smirks and pulls Maria and I to the dance floor.

  
I start feeling the one shot I took 10 minutes prior to when we got here when I start swaying my hips to the rhythm of the music. I look around to see if there were any other people we knew, none. I only see the few people we came to the party with, also Josh. He sees me and waves a hello to me, I smile and wave back.

  
I see someone next to him that I don't think I've seen before. He's standing next to Josh and maybe listening to the conversation, but his attention went to me. His ocean blue eyes have such an intense stare, his bottom lip is tucked between his teeth, his hand rubs his chin and I noticed a few tattoos on his wrist with two small ones on his knuckles, his brown hair is messy, but in a stylish way. When he releases his lip, he smiles a very charming smile at me and holds his drink up as a "cheers". I smile a small smile and wave at the charming stranger.

  
"That's Louis Tomlinson. He's new to this school and he's part of this frat. He transferred from Manchester Uni. He's on a soccer scholarship. He's 23, and I think he's very fond of you." I hear Maria say next to me. I look to see a smirk on her face.

  
I roll my eyes. "Oh please, Maria, I don't even know the guy." I playfully shove her.

  
She laughs at my reaction. "I'm just sayin' he's been looking at you from the moment we walked in. You'll thank me in the future."

  
I'm not sure what she meant by that. I look back at Louis and he has his attention back to Josh.

  
A few moments later, I feel a slight push on my shoulder and I turn to see a red cup while my tall friend drinks out of his. I take the cup and sip at what it contains. It tasted like lemonade with some vodka, he knows my tastes and he succeeded to make what I liked.

  
.

  
.

  
.

  
I was halfway through my drink and lost in the music when I feel someone bump into me causing me to spill my drink all over me.

  
"Shit.." I mumble to myself.

  
"Oh damn, I'm so sorry!" I hear a very unfamiliar accent. I look up to see the same ocean blue eyes that I saw from across the room a while ago. "I'll get you another drink." he grins a very smug one.

  
"I need to clean myself up." I tell him, annoyed as I start to walk away.

  
"Looks like my plan backfired." I hear him say as I look up at him.

  
"What plan?" I ask, raising my eyebrow at him.

  
"To spill your drink on you to start a conversation." he says with a smug grin reappearing on his face.

  
"You spilled this on me purposely?' I slightly raise my voice, not because of the music, but out of anger.

  
"You pissed?" he gives a goofy grin. One that made me smile so wide that I just couldn't be mad at him.

  
I look around and grab the nearest cup filled with what smells like beer and I did what I didn't think I would do: I purposely spilled it on him.

  
"I'll get over it." I say with a smug grin. He laughs at the recent action.

  
"Touche. Okay, how about you stay here and I'll get you a towel, yeah?" he says as he leads me to a single couch. I sit down and watch as he heads into the kitchen.

  
I look around to find one of my friends and I find Maria smirking at mine and Louis' interraction. I roll my eyes and flip her off. She laughs and walks away and joins Josh and Carlos in an intense game of UNO.

  
I look the other way to see Louis coming back with a towel and drink in hand.

  
"Here you go, I'm sorry about that." he says as he hands me the towel.

  
"It's fine, don't worry about it. We're even" I smirk at him as I start dabbing away at my wet shirt.

  
It's white. It's a bit transparent and I think my black bra could be seen. F U C K.

  
I look up at Louis but his gaze is on me, not my shirt.

 

"I can let you borrow one of my shirts if you want, I don't mind" he says acknowledging the massive stain on my shirt.

  
"That sounds good,, but I have to find one of my friends first." I tell him slurring a bit.

  
As I said that, one of Louis' friends (I think) passes by, "Is one of them on the stairs about to take off her shirt?"

  
I look up to the guy pointing at the stairs then gasp at what I'm seeing.

  
Claudia is about to lift her shirt off to expose the goods.

  
"Shit." I say as I stumble towards her before it's too late. Louis follows behind me.

As I make my way there, I hear cheers and every guy in the house yelling "TAKE IT OFF! TAKE IT OFF! TAKE IT OFF"

  
Unfortunately, I didn't make it on time and her shirt was lifted. All I see are flashes going off and men cheering everywhere in the house.

  
"Damnit, Claudia!" I yell as I make my way up the stairs then I'm joined by Carlos trying to pull her down. We struggle down the stairs but we make it.

  
I look up to see Louis pushing his way through the crowd and towards the front door. He looks over at us, struggling with a very drunk Claudia and he pulls her other arm around his shoulder. We make our way out of the house and I feel a sudden chill go down my spine. I realize I left my jacket inside and I mentally curse myself for that.

  
I see Louis smootthly take off his jacket and hands it to me. I thankfully take it and shrug it on while still holding on to a very drunk roommate of mine and mumbling a quick thank you to him.

  
.

  
.

  
.

  
After 10 minutes of struggling with Claudia's lightweight ass, we finally make it to our apartment building.

  
Carlos pulls open the door for Louis and I to haul her in while Maria stumbles towards the elevator, pushing the up button in the process.

  
"Here, I'll take her." I hear Carlos say as he takes Claudia to the elevator.

  
Claudia glances up at Louis and smugly grins. "Hey, you're that cute guy from the frat party" she points to him and as the elevator closes she blurts out "you're hot!"

  
I face palm myself after her small comment and I hear him chuckle.

  
During that 10 minute walk, I noticed he has more than one tattoo. He has a quote on his chest that I couldn't quite read because of his shirt only being v-neck. His right arm is covered in small but random tattoos. The one that stood out to me more was the stick figure on the skateboard. It's pretty cool, to be honest. His left wrist had a bracelet of a club, spade, heart, and diamond along with a skull and crossbones. His inner arm had a quote that read 'given a chance" with a knife right under it.

 

"Y'know, I'm gonna get in trouble for helping girls leave the party." he chuckles.

  
"Oh really? What kind of trouble?" I raise my eyebrow.

  
"I get kitchen duty, unfortunately." he jokes and we both let out a small laugh. "If none of us get any action at any of the parties we throw, we get kitchen duty for a month." he pouts. "I never got your name."

  
All of a sudden, something clicked in the back of my mind. I approach him, letting my confidence take the best of me, leaning up to him, I close my eyes and gently place my lips on his.  
His lips are soft and stiff as he was taken aback at my sudden move. A few seconds passed and I felt him relax into the kiss. They went from stiff to gentle in a matter of seconds. I slowly pull away, feeling my cheeks burning at the recent event.

  
"Mariah. My name's Mariah." I smile to him.

  
"Louis. Very nice to meet you, Mariah." he holds out his hand and I take it, shaking it lightly. "I'll see you around then, yeah?" he asks while backing up into the door.

  
I nod and smile. Then I remember his jacket.

  
"Louis, your jacket.." I say as I start shrugging it off.

  
"Keep it. For next time." he smiles and gives me a kiss on the cheek. "You can come get your jacket tomorrow back at the frat house, but for now, I hope you make it back upstairs safe."

  
"Goodnight." I smile and chew on my bottom lip. "Thanks again, for everything."

  
"Night." he smiles and starts walking away.

  
"Sorry about kitchen duty." I say smirking.

  
"What kitchen duty?" he chuckles. "I was just bullshitting you." he winks.

  
I laugh and flip him off as I head up to my apartment.

 

**Tonight was _VERY_ interesting**

 

**\---------------------------------------------**

**okay so the idea for this last part was from the movie "The Roommate" when Stephen and Sarah meet at the frat party. (if you've seen that movie) lol**

**anyway, thank you to those who are reading this story!**

**-kimmo.**


	3. 3.

I woke up the next morning with no hangover, surprisingly. When I drink, I tend to get a slight hangover since I hardly drink. But today was different and I don't remember coming upstairs last night. But I remember dragging Claudia to the dorm after flashing half the party and possibly the whole campus considering how many people posted it on Snapchat. 

 

I sat up on my bed and checked my phone. Nothing unusual. Texts and a couple missed calls from my ex boyfriend.

 

My ex boyfriend and I had agreed to both go to CSUN or NYU. We both got accepted to CSUN then all of a sudden there was an opening in NYU and so I guess you know where I'm going with this. He left and now he's blowing my phone up trying to fix things. It's been 2 years since that happened and I still don't know why he hasn't moved on. I can't say I don't think about him, I do and I think about how it would've been if he decided to stay for CSUN. We planned a future together and shit went south all because he decided NYU was a better option. Oh well.

 

I do some stretches to crack my back and neck and I get up to use the bathroom and wash my face. When I leave my bathroom, I walk by my desk and I see a black jacket hanging from the chair. I hold it up and I'm trying to figure out whose it is. Did I borrow this from Carlos? No, this it a bit too small to be his. I shrug it on and it fits me a tad big. It smells like a pretty expensive cologne and my mind wanders to anyone who can possibly have given me this jacket. 

 

I start to think about the ocean blue eyes that seem to have haunted me all night last night. Then I remember. _Louis_. This is Louis' jacket! He let me wear it when we dragged Claudia out of his frat house because I had left mine there after spilling his drink on me. He helped us haul her heavy as back to out dorm and afterwards I kissed him after hearing his "kitchen duty" joke. _Holy shit I kissed him_. His lips were really soft and gentle, he was stiff because of how sudden it was then he eventually relaxed. 

 

I remember him telling me that I can go back to get my jacket today. Should I go by myself?

 

I check the time, 12:30pm. Shit I slept hard.

 

I make my way out of my room and into Maria's. I knock then shortly hearing a faint 'come in' from the other side of the door. She looks like she's been up and studying, that kind of reminds me of me when I don't go out with everyone else. I lay on her bed and she's on her desk chair.

 

"Didn't I tell you Louis had a thing for you?" she says confidently.

 

"Oh piss off, dude. He probably thinks I'm a major drunkie after dragging Claudia out of that party." I mentally facepalm at Claudia's stupid actions. 

 

"But you DID kiss him." Carlos says from Maria's doorway and give a smirk towards Maria.

 

"You didn't! Did you??" Maria asks in surprise.

 

I feel my face heat up.

 

"Maybe." I say lowly.

 

"Somehow, I knew you'd end up growing fond of him" Maria says and winks.

 

"He bullshitted me into kissing him because he said he'd get 'kitchen duty' if he didn't get any." I say.

 

Maria and Carlos laugh and high five each other.

 

"Oh Mariah, you fell for the kitchen duty bullshit." Carlos finally says after almost losing his will to breathe.

 

I'm not the person that goes out a lot, so of course I'm gonna fall for it. He's a good kisser though. I shrug it off.

 

"Did you get his number?" Maria asks.

 

"I don't remember, to be honest." I chuckle. "But he told me to go today to pick up my jacket. I just don't know what time he meant for me to go."

 

"Go right now! What are you waiting for?!" Carlos exclaims.

 

"Well I have to! He has my favorite jacket." I say as I walk back upstairs and into my room, not thinking about breakfast. I'm not all that hungry.

 

I lay back on my bed and search for my phone. When I find it, I see that I have a text from an unknown number.

 

_"Hey, gorgeous. ;)"_

 

I give a confused look and I reply

 

_"Who is this?"_

 

_"The guy who now has kitchen duty for a month because you didn't come home with me last night ;)"_

 

I roll my eyes as I finally realize who it is.

 

_"Oh lord, hi Louis. WELL if you hadn't spilled that drink on me on purpose, I would've considered it. ;)"_

 

_"LOL who else did you think it was? Expecting someone else?"_

 

_"Hold on, you would've considered it???"_ he replies again

 

_"No I was actually remembering about my jacket I left at your place and seeing yours on my bed & of cOURSE NOT LOUIS!! lol " _

 

_"Rude. Getting my hopes up & shit lol. Well then, I think it's good to say that we need to return each other's things. What do you say? My place in 30? We can go grab something to eat. ;)"_

 

I smile to myself as I remember how cheeky he was last night. Then I realize something.

 

_"Wait, how did you get my number?"_

 

_"Got it from a reliable source, love. Problem? ;)"_

 

_"Not at all, just asking. I'll see you soon then, Louis. :)"_

 

_"30 minutes, looking forward to it. x"_

 

I put my phone down as I smile to myself. I get up and run a hand through my dark brown hair.

 

"So, are you gonna see him?" I hear Carlos say from the doorway. I jump and yelp in shock and he let's out a chuckle.

 

"I am actually, in 30 minutes. We're gonna get something to eat. Before you say anything, no we're not gonna start dating Carlos. I'm not ready for a relationship yet." I tell my best friend.

 

"Mariah, it's been 3 years. Don't you think it's time to consider dating someone else?" he asks.

 

"Yeah, it is but I just don't want to get my heart broken again. I'm literally so scared to get into another relationship, Carlos. It wasn't easy and you know that." I argue back. 

 

 I think about my last relationship with Justin. It went so well then he decided to just leave. He finally calms down after he sees tears threatening to roll down from my eyes.

 

"Okay, I'm sorry." he sighs as he engulfs me in a huge, comforting hug. I've always loved his hugs. They're so warm and comforting when you need him. 

 

"Have you spoken to him?" he asks suddenly.

 

"No, he calls and texts me but I never answer." I sigh and look up at him.

 

"Just tell him to fuck off. Simple. Or you can block his number." he shrugs. "But anyway, get yourself ready, you have a lunch date in half an hour" he winks and walks out of my room, closing the door behind him.

 

I sigh as i choose what to wear. I chose a loose black tank top with a short front and a long back, black ripped skinny jeans and my black Vans. 

 

I look at my outfit in the mirror and I mentally pat myself in the back for choosing these jeans for they make my ass look good. 

 

I do some simple winged eyeliner and grab my bag. I grab my phone and I see that i have 10 minutes left to get to Louis' frat house. 

 

I grab his jacket and I make my way downstairs and I see Carlos on the couch watching what looks like a cooking show.

 

"I'll see you later, darling." I tell him as I kiss his cheek.

 

"Good luck, cuh. Tell me what happens when you come back." he says.

 

"That's if she comes back!" I hear Maria yell out from the kitchen. 

 

I roll my eyes and chuckle. I grab my keys from the hanger and head out.

 

I make my way towards the frat house which happens to be 10 minutes away from where I live.

 

It takes me exactly 10 minutes to the frat and when I get there, I see the boy with the ocean blue eyes again. He looks up at me and smiles. He walks up to me, my jacket in his right hand and his phone in his left.

 

"Hey, beautiful." I hear him say and I swear I feel my heart skip a beat.

\------------------------------------------------------------------

**hiiii sorry it's been a while.**

**I hope you enjoy this "cliff hanger"**

**PLEASE show your love! also, follow me on twitter**

**@ whtafeelinglwt  
**

**all the love,**

**Kimmo.**


	4. 4.

4.

 

 

_"Hey beautiful" I hear him say and I swear I feel my heart skip a beat._

 

 

"Hi, Louis" I tell him trying to hide my now flushed red face.

 

 

I hear him chuckle as I look up at him. Keep in mind he's probably around 5'8" - 5'9" and I'm a solid 5'4" so he's pretty tall in my case.

 

 

"Ready to go? We can go where ever you'd like. I'm down for pretty much anything." he says smiling.

 

 

"Uh.. maybe sushi? I love sushi and I haven't had some in a good while." I say to him and smile.

 

 

"Sounds good." he smiles and leads me to his car. A black Range Rover for that matter.

 

 

"Holy shit, this is your car?" I ask in awe.

 

 

"Yeah, it was a gift from my estranged dad before I moved over here from Donny." he says with a little hurt coming from his voice.

 

 

"Donny?" I ask as he holds open the car door for me. I climb in and he closes the door.

 

He runs to his side and climbs into the driver's seat.

 

He then turns the key in the ignition following a roar of the engine coming alive.

 

 

"Doncaster. It's a small town in England, up in Yorkshire. I lived there my whole life up until uni, that's when I went to Manchester on a football scholarship." he smiles to himself as he remembers his time in Manchester, but as quick as his smile came, it soon left.

 

 

I nodded and dropped the subject, it seemed like a touchy subject for him to talk about, but something made me wanna ask him so much more.

 

I looked at him with so much curiosity. Was he hiding something behind the hurt look in his eyes? I studied him a bit more, his jawline was so defined and so much more because of his facial hair. His eyes are gray, they were blue when I first looked at them. He looked like he was in deep though, then I looked at his hands. His knuckles were white due to the fact he was tightening the grip on the steering wheel.

 

 

The car ride was silent, I didn't want to ask him any more questions about home, it looked like it affected him a bit. Once we got to our destination. I've never been to this place. It was pretty close to campus, nothing but a 10 minute drive.

 

We got out of the car and he led me inside. The place was very modern looking and chic, dimmed lights, and single lit candles on each table as a centerpiece. A waitress approaches us and she immediately smiles at Louis.

 

 

"Hey, Louis, good seeing you again," the waitress smiles and grabs two menus.

 

 

"Hey, Nancy, likewise." he says shortly with a small smile. I'm guessing they know each other?

 

 

Nancy leads us to a small table all the way in the back of the restaurant. I don't understand why though, the restaurant is half empty and there are many other tables here.

 

 

Louis pulls out a chair for me and I gladly take it giving a small "thank you" after sitting. He takes a seat across from me and Nancy  gives us our menus.

 

 

"Anything to drink?" she asks.

 

 

"Can I have a Dr. Pepper?" I ask her and replies with a nod and smile.

 

 

"I'll have a Sprite, please, Nancy." he says with a small smile once more.

 

 

"No problem, I'll be right back with your drinks." she smiles and walks off.

 

 

I keep quiet as I look at the different varieties of rolls and bowls on the menu. After what felt like decades of silence, he finally spoke up.

 

"Hey, I'm sorry I've been quiet, thinking about home is the last thing I want to do. I don't want you to feel bad for my behavior." he said with a sigh.

 

 

"It's okay, I promise. I think I would feel pretty bad about leaving home as well, don't worry about it, Louis." I tell him with a small smile and he returns it.

 

 

"I want to know more about you, if that's okay." he says with a little glint of hope in his now blue eyes.

 

 

"Well," I start. "I'm 22, turning 23 on the 17th of November. I'm majoring in music and I graduate next year. I'm from Los Angeles and grew up just up the street from here. My mom's Mexican, my dad's Mexican/Italian and I have other brothers and sisters. Too many to count, to be honest. I live with my friends Maria, Claudia and Carlos and we all work at the same elementary school. Maria and Claudia as children's psychologists, Carlos and I work for an after school program which Maria is in as well." I tell him.

 

 

Louis smiles and takes a sip of his drink that I didn't noticed we received. I take a small sip from mine and set aside.

 

 

"You like working with kids?" he asks.

 

"I love working with them. You feel a sense of accomplishment when you see them smile and being happy after they do their activities, you know?" I say proudly.

 

 

I see him smile, a real smile for the first time in an hour. I return the smile then I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. I look to see that it's an incoming call from my ex boyfriend, Justin. I roll my eyes and ignore the call then put my phone in my bag.

 

 

"Everything okay?" I hear Louis ask.

 

"Yeah, just ex boyfriend problems." I say and sigh.

 

"Am I interrupting something between you two?" he asks again.

 

 

"Oh, no, no. We broke up a couple years ago. You see, we were supposed to start in CSUN together then he changed his mind and went to NYU. Now all of a sudden he wants to come back but to be honest, it's not worth it anymore. It was hard enough for me to see my boyfriend leave to a different school after planning out our future. He thought I wasn't going to be upset about his decision, but he thought wrong." I say, looking down at my hands on the table. I didn't realize I was crying until I feel Louis' thumb rub against my cheek. I look up at him and I half smile. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get all emotional on you." I say again as I wipe the fallen tears.

 

 

"No, it's fine, I get it. He's an idiot for changing his mind on you. He doesn't deserve a person like you. You seem so genuine and nice. Not that type of person to be so mean to everyone, you know? That's why I was so drawn to you and I wanted to get to know you better." he tells me and I flush a light pink.

 

 

"Thank you, Louis. I've never really heard that from anyone." I say.

 

 

"I'm just telling you the tr-" he stops mid sentence and looks behind me. I see his eyebrows furrow together.

 

 

I look behind me to see what he was looking at then quickly look back to him.

 

 

"Everything okay?" I ask him.

 

 

"Huh? Oh, um, yeah. I just thought I saw someone I knew that's all." he said with a fake smile.

 

 

I simply nodded and let it go. But I really wanted to know what he was looking at. He looked at it with fear and anger at the same time.

 

 

"Maybe he IS hiding something." my conscious says to me.

 

 

After our food arrived, we ate in silence, only complimenting the food and giving each other quick glimpses and smiles.

 

He has a really charming smile, I have to admit. His hand has a tattoo of the number 28 on the middle and ring finger of his left hand. I wonder if that's his soccer jersey number or maybe it has some sort of significance to him. I look at his wrists and I see the rope tattoo. It looks like an infinity symbol if you look at it closely.

 

 

"Like what you see, love?" I hear from Louis, breaking me out of my thoughts.

 

 

I look up at him to see him already looking at me, smirking that stupid smirk again. I feel my face heat up a bit and I chuckle nervously.

 

 

"I was just looking at your tattoos, they're really interesting to look at." I say and I look at them some more.

 

 

"Thanks, love. Do you have any?" he asks.

 

 

"I do, actually, they're pretty small, though." I show him my wrists with my small tattoos. On my left, I have a smiley face with cross eyes and a heart. On my right, I have flying birds and a peace sign. On my right middle finger, I have an infinity symbol.

 

 

I feel his hand on my wrist, tracing on my smiley face.

 

 

"I have one like this too, Mariah." he says and I look up at him in surprise.

 

 

"You do?" I ask suddenly.

 

 

He nods and shows me the same smiley face with cross eyes on his right wrist.

 

 

"Looks like great minds think alike, eh?" he smirks and chuckles.

 

 

I let out a small chuckle and nod. "I guess so." I say and smile.

 

 

"Do they have any specific meaning?" he asks.

 

 

"Not really, to be honest, I just wanted them." I say and chuckle.

 

 

We talk for a while more and decide to head out. I tried to pay for my food but he declined and paid himself. After many times of saying 'I got it' or 'let me pay for mine', he still didn't let me pay.

 

 

"It's fine, Mariah. Besides, I'm the one that invited you, not the other way around." he says smiling as he leads me out.

 

 

I smile to myself  and suddenly it goes away when I look up at Louis. Once again with that serious expression on his face, but this time he's looking around the parking lot, as if he were looking for someone. When he sees that everything was "clear" he placed a hand on my lower back with a small push to let me know to go ahead of him. He unlocks the car and opens the door for me, gladly climbing back inside the vehicle. He gets in his side and starts the car.

 

 

Throughout the ride, we made small talk about his frat and my roommates.

 

 

I gave him the directions to my apartment and he parked near the entrance. He offered to walk me in and I let him.

 

 

"This is your place?" he looks at the building.

 

 

"Yeah, I live here with my roommates." I say and grin.

 

 

It's a nice looking building, very modern outside and in. We reach the elevator and go inside, pushing the button with the number 4 on it and watching the doors slide closed.

 

 

We reach the 4th floor and exit the elevator and I lead him to the apartment that has the number 408 on it. Taking out my keys from my bag, I look up at Louis and smile.

 

 

"I had a really good time. Thank you for today." I tell him and he returns the smile.

 

 

"I did too. I hope there can be more dates like these soon." he says and winks.

 

 

I'm taken aback at what he said. A date? Was this a date? I mean he paid for lunch, he was being such a gentleman pulling the chair out for me and opening the car and building door for me. Maybe this was a date then.

 

 

"Oh so this was a date then..?" I say with a bit of humor in my voice and I smile.

 

"I can say that was, love." he says confidently. "Well I thought it was. A pretty girl like you deserves to be taken out." he speaks again. I feel my face heat up and I look down in embarrassment.

 

 

"Then it was a date." I say lowly, biting my lip to keep myself from smiling like an idiot.

 

 

Louis smiles a very sweet smile and gives me a kiss on the cheek.

 

"I'll see you soon then, love. I'll call you or text you, okay?" he says and smiles.

 

 

I smile widely and nod. "Okay." is all I can say to him after receiving that kiss. It felt soft and gentle, just like what he appears to be. But I can be wrong.

 

 

I wave goodbye to Louis and I unlock my door and walk in to see Claudia sitting on the couch typing something on her laptop.

 

 

"Hey good-lookin'. How was lunch with Louis?" she asks and smiles as she looks up at me.

 

 

I blush a tint of red and I smile.

 

 

"It was good, he took me to this sushi place like 10 minutes away from here. He paid for lunch after I offered to pay for my own too." I tell her.

 

 

"My love, you better get used to it. There aren't guys like him anymore." Claudia says. She has a point.

 

 

Should I tell her about what happened during lunch? No, it's not my place to talk about him like that.

 

"We're just friends, Claudia." I say as I roll my eyes.

 

 

"Sweetheart, he likes you. He's been dodging every girl in his way until he met you. That has to be something. And plus, he paid for lunch. Stop denying yourself and let it happen, it's been three years, Mariah." I hear Claudia say. What stung me a little was the last part. 'It's been three years, Mariah'.

 

 

I mean, Claudia's right but, I still have a lot of questions about Louis. Why did he decide to come to California for school. Out of all places, why in the San Fernando Valley?

 

 

I guess I'll ask him when I see him again...

 

 

 

**if I see him again.**

**Author's Note:**

> ©KimMajarrez™ 2016
> 
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> 
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